TYLER – UT Tyler’s Alexus Bertrand drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 68 with four seconds to play, but Kendall Heitmeier answered for Austin College by hitting a 3-pointer of her own at the buzzer to give the Roos a 71-68 non-conference win over the Patriots on Wednesday at the Herrington Patriot Center.

“We showed some mental toughness when we fought back today,” UT Tyler coach Kendra Hassell said. “We did that through defensive intensity. This team still has to figure out how to play with that urgency for 40 minutes and not get in a situation where we have to dig ourselves out of a hole.”

UT Tyler (8-4) had a 22-game home winning streak end and is now 5-1 at the HPC as they start a six-game home stand that continues Monday against LeTourneau. The Patriots trailed 41-32 at halftime and by as many as 14 in the third quarter, but fought back in the fourth with an 8-0 run to start the final quarter to take a 61-60 lead when Samantha Odom capped the run with a free throw with 7:19 to play. The run included a 3-pointer and jumper by Michelle Obach to start the quarter and didn’t end until the Roos’ took a 63-61 lead on an Ann Savage 3-pointer at the 4:38 mark. The shot ended a nearly three-minute scoring drought by both teams. Obach would hit two free throws to cut the UT Tyler deficit to 67-65 with 2:58 to play before Heitmeier hit one of two free throws to give Austin a 68-65 lead with 11 seconds to play.

The final 11 seconds would see exhilaration for both teams – first when Bertrand stepped up to hit a 3-pointer to tie it but then for the Roos when Heitmeier ended it with her first 3-pointer of the game and the 11th for Austin College which has now earned wins over the Patriots in back-to-back years after being the only team to top UT Tyler during last year’s regular season.

Obach led the Patriot with 17 points after going 6-for-12 from the field, including hitting 3 of 4 shots from beyond the arc. Obach added three assists and two steals, while Re’Elle Miller had eight rebounds, six points and a career-best seven assists for the Patriots. Shuntay Raglin would add 10 points and five rebounds and Makenzi May had eight points, four assists and four rebounds. May, who became the all-time UT Tyler leader for 3-pointers last week, now has 191 in her record-setting career after going 2-for-4 against AC.

UT Tyler finished the game 9-for-27 (33.3 percent) on 3-pointers, while Austin College went 11-for-22 (50 percent) on its 3-pointers at the HPC. Kendra Rainey led the Roos with 21 points with three 3-pointers, while Savage added 20 points after going 6-for-9 on 3-pointers. Heitmeier finished the game with 12 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.

The Patriots will return to action at 5:30 p.m. on Monday against LeTourneau at the HPC after falling 86-76 against the YellowJackets last Monday in Longview.